4.5 mph is not walking, it's running for a petite female.

^^^^ I mean in the regards to calorie burn...4.5 is a brisk walk for me...but calorie burn wise it is a conditioning issue more than it is a height issue...I won't burn as much running or walking at 4.5mph as i will at 8mph...my mother might burn more at 4.5mph than I do at 8mph due to our level of training with that specific activity. My husband is quite tall and when he trains even a little he can run faster than me in a half marathon...but as of right now 4.5 kicks his *kitten*....so calorie burn wise it has more to do with HR than speed and that is the OP's question as I understood it.

I read it the opposite. Gotta love the internet.

4.5 is running! lol I'm 5'

Running is a gait, not a speed

Yes...!

My first 'introduction' to the relative difference in speeds, in the context of walking and running, and firsthand experience in witnessing just how remarkably different the associated speeds could be (let alone the 'effort') when someone who was walking was outpacing the heck out of someone who was running, goes all the way back to when I was a small child. In certain environments, my dad would suddenly begin walking very fast, as a 'joke' of sorts, given that my close-in-age sibling and I would then suddenly burst into running, to try and catch up to him -- and he found it comical and entertaining to see us 'bolt' in such a fashion, to try and keep up with him... (he'd keep looking back over his shoulder, to see where we were... and when we did catch up to him (only because he'd ultimately stop ), we'd tend to each 'hug' one of his legs, as though it were the trunk of a tree -- and as though either of us had the strength to 'keep him still'... (this seemed to then be a spontaneous 'cue' for him to try and alternately 'lift' each leg while a munchkin was still 'attached'... lol )).

I don't go by MFP any more my calories are always way different to what is stated. I use my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor. I find it so much easier to not have to worry about the difference. I'm 5'3 btw.

i'm 5'4 and have been jogging between 4.5 and 4.8 for the last few weeks. it really feels like a decent jog to me but when logging it i always get sad that i have to classify it as walking. and then when i mention to people that i've been running i always feel the need to discount it to "well its really at a fast walking pace".

i'm happy now. i worked hard to get up to this point!

Speak for yourself! I'm only 5'2" and anything less than 5mph is walking for me. I run at 10mph.

Me too. I'm 5'3 and my normal walk is about 3.5-4.0, and light jogging is 5.0-5.5. Running is 6.0-infinity :P

Usually run at about 6, unless doing HIIT. Then I run anywhere from 6-9.

I'm 5'1" and I run / jog at 4.5 and try to get up to 5 to cut down on my mile time. Theres no way I could walk that fast. My fast walking is 3.5 max right now.


Edited to add: I use runtastic and I think it automatically logs it on here as a run / jog.

I think height has little to do with it. I'm 5'3. When I started running, I ran between 5 and 5.5 on the mill and it was hard. Now, the only way I'd be able to run at 5mph on the mill is if I set the incline to a 3 or a 4, or it's completely unnatural, I walk at 5 mph now. For short runs, 3-6 miles, I average 6.7 - 7mph. Long runs 10-13 miles I dial it back down to 6mph. But this is because I've been running a couple of years now and I average between 20-25 miles a week. I didn't get faster until I started running over 15 miles per week and increased my number of days from 3 to 4. And my legs are still the same length.

... I'm 5'10" and 4.6 is DEFINITELY running for me...

Me, too... I was starting to feel inadequate reading about all these shorties who laugh off anything under 6 mph. Maybe you guys can go faster because you're littler. Plus you have a lower center of gravity and therefore greater stability and resistance to falling. These are all of my bullsh*t theories to justify why I can't run faster (yet) without killing myself.

where are you measuring? i find i run faster off the treadmill than on because i have a tendency to shorten my stride on the treadmill whereas i can use my normal stride outdoors. outdoors my natural jog speed is around 6 mph which doesn't feel fast until i'm on the treadmill.

well...i am 6'2 and when i am out there dying while running, MFP gives me a very snarky "walking, very very brisk pace".

So I would advise not to worry too much about what MFP says. That is my biggest criticism about MFP, their exercise section leaves a lot to be desired but their food log section is really good. So i usually log all my food here and visit RunKeeper/Endomondo/Runtastic for logging my exercise.